Smith & Williamson expands tax investigations team with Alan Long

Smith & Williamson, the accountancy and financial advisory group, has announced the appointment of Alan Long, as senior tax manager within the national tax investigations team.

Alan is an ex-inspector of taxes with over 20 years’ experience of tax investigations. He worked for the Inland Revenue for over 30 years and spent the last 10 years of his career with HM Revenue and Customs in special civil investigations, where he dealt with serious fraud tax issues on both a civil and criminal basis, as well as acting as criminal prosecution team group leader.

Sue Holmes, who is head of the tax investigations team, said:

“We are delighted that Alan is joining us; he brings a wealth of experience to Smith & Williamson’s tax investigations team having worked for many years within HM Revenue and Customs’ own prosecutions department. Tax advisers are seeing a sharp rise in investigations work as the authorities are taking an increasingly hard-lined attitude in both personal and business tax matters.”

Alan Long added:

“I have the unique honour of having organised the largest search operation ever conducted by the Inland Revenue prior to its merger with Customs & Excise! This background in tax prosecution will be really helpful in my new role.”

Prior to joining Smith & Williamson, Alan worked for a niche tax practice in Birmingham where he was also in the tax investigations field.

Smith & Williamson is an independent professional and financial services group employing over 1,300 people. The group is a leading provider of investment management, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients, professional practices and mid-to-large corporates. The group operates from offices in London, Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, Guildford, Maidstone, Salisbury, Southampton, and Worcester.